'Planking' social media stunt turns fatal

The "hey, look at me" culture of social networking took a strange and tragic turn Sunday when an Austrailian man died in a social media stunt called "planking," resulting in him falling several stories to his death.

Planking is social media activity in which a person lays flat on their stomach with their arms against their bodies in odd and sometimes dangerous places. For example, people will plank over railroad tracks, face down in water, atop motor vehicles, or in the case of the Austrailian man, a seventh floor balcony.

The planker then shares photos of the pose through social media sites like Facebook. The official Facebook page for planking has nearly 140,000 "likes," and according to the Montreal Gazette, which reported the death in Austrailia, planking is growing in popularity.

I had never heard of planking until today, and the most popular planking USA page on Facebook has only 92 likes. So maybe planking will remain a niche down under. Looking through the various photos online, there is plenty of planking that appears perfectly safe if not completely silly. And then there is foolishness like this. Or this.

The man who died over the weekend had been "out during the night," according to the story, and that could have contributed to the accident. I can think of some pretty odd places to plank in Milwaukee, but I think I will stick with the safe confines of the dining room.

Update:A reader shares a site called Delco Face Down, which offers planking photos and a map showing where various face-down shots have been taken. Enjoy.